httpstatuses/contents/codes/208.md

---
set: 2
code: 208
title: Already Reported
---

The 208 (Already Reported) status code can be used inside a DAV: propstat
response element to avoid enumerating the internal members of multiple bindings
to the same collection repeatedly. For each binding to a collection inside the
request's scope, only one will be reported with a 200 status, while subsequent
DAV:response elements for all other bindings will use the 208 status, and no
DAV:response elements for their descendants are included.

Note that the 208 status will only occur for "Depth: infinity" requests, and
that it is of particular importance when the multiple collection bindings cause
a bind loop as discussed in [RFC5842 Section 2.2][2].

A client can request the DAV:resource-id property in a PROPFIND request to
guarantee that they can accurately reconstruct the binding structure of a
collection with multiple bindings to a single resource.

For backward compatibility with clients not aware of the 208 status code
appearing in multistatus response bodies, it SHOULD NOT be used unless the
client has signaled support for this specification using the "DAV" request
header (see [RFC5842Section 8.2][3]). Instead, a 508 status should be
returned when a binding loop is discovered. This allows the server to return the
508 as the top-level return status, if it discovers it before it started the
response, or in the middle of a multistatus, if it discovers it in the middle of
streaming out a multistatus response.

Source: [RFC5842 Section 7.1][1]

[1]: <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5842#section-7.1>
[2]: <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5842#section-2.2>
[3]: <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5842#section-8.2>